'Africa looks forward to Indian enterprise'

With Indian firms having invested over $25 billion in Africa, the continent looks forward to furthering ties with India that date back to more than two millennia, a top Ethiopian leader said here.

"Ties between Africa and India date back over 2,000 years and the civilisations of India and Africa have been united by the India Ocean over many centuries," said Ethiopian State Minister for Foreign Affairs Berhane Gebre-Christos.

"Today, the rapid emergence of India as a major power in the globalised world has prompted growing interest in the relationship between India and Africa," Christos said during a two-day seminar here that started Wednesday evening.

The seminar was organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) ahead of the two-day Africa-India Summit to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on May 24.